


No Concept of Time

by JLSigman



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-14
Updated: 2016-01-14
Packaged: 2018-05-13 22:43:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5719741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JLSigman/pseuds/JLSigman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: June 4th - Devil May Cry, Dante/Lady: Pondering Lady's mortality - and the sun will set for you<br/>A/N: Set a few to several years after Devil May Cry 4</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Concept of Time

**Author's Note:**

> [Originally posted June 4, 2008](http://springkink.livejournal.com/615077.html)

Lady had asked for help on this particular job, and since Dante wasn’t doing anything else at the time, he had agreed to go along. It was a fairly straightforward plan: bust down the door, kill everything that moved, grab the artifact, and head home in time to order from the late night delivery place. The first part was a breeze: Lady aimed Kalina Ann at the door and it very quickly turned into a pile of scorched splinters.

The second part wasn’t too bad, as fights against demonic cultists go. There were a lot of them, but Dante was a one-man army and the two were only surrounded for a few minutes. The rest of it should’ve been a cakewalk at that point. But Dante got distracted by Lady’s heavy breathing, reminding him of other times he’d made her so breathless, and he had to turn around to crack a joke.

She was leaning against the wall, Kalina Ann on the floor in front of her as if it was too heavy to carry. Her lungs were working like bellows, frantically sucking air in and out through slightly pale lips. His joke died unspoken as he looked hard at her. “You OK?” he finally asked.

She waved a hand at him. “Just grab that damn thing,” she said hoarsely.

He was too distracted to protest the command, and took the multi-limbed statuette from the bloody altar. He held it in his hand, felt its weight and the fading demonic energy, and walked back to her. Her breathing was nearly normal, but she still looked paler than usual. “What’s wrong with – “

Her head snapped up, mis-matched eyes blazing with anger. “I’m fine, Dante.” She held out her hand, but he didn’t move. “Give me the artifact, that was the deal.”

“Not until you tell me what’s going on,” he replied as casually as he could.

“You…” she sputtered. Then she deflated and leaned against the wall again. “I’m getting old, Dante.” He made a snorting sound of disbelief, which earned him another glare. “Fine, then. You tell me how many years it’s been since we met.”

He opened his mouth to answer, but then realized he didn’t have one. “I…” He noticed lines around her eyes and mouth that hadn’t been there last time he’d looked. “I don’t…” He remembered how pissed off she’d gotten when he’d teased her about the gray hairs.

She made a choked sound that might have been a laugh or a sob. “I know. You don’t keep track of time, it doesn’t matter to you.” She sighed and tried to straighten up. “But the truth is that I’m getting old, and slow, and I won’t be able to do this much longer. I’m past when I could have kids, if I was stupid enough to bring kids into this fucked up world of ours.” She held out her hand again.

He gave her what they had come for. He couldn’t think of anything that would make this right. “I’m so-“

She put two fingers over his lips. “Neither one of us can help who we are, Dante. The sun will set on me someday, while you still have an endless afternoon to enjoy.” She picked up Kalina Ann and slung it over her shoulder. “Let’s go, I’m starving.”

He could only follow her out.


End file.
